Thoroughness is ensuring that one's own and other's work and information are complete and accurate; carefully preparing for meetings and presentations; following up with others to ensure that agreements and commitments have been fulfilled.

An employee demonstrating this competency:

• Sets up procedures to ensure high quality of work (e.g., review meetings)
• Monitors the quality of work
• Acts to verify information
• Checks the accuracy of own and others' work
• Develops and uses systems to organize and keep track of information or work progress
• Carefully prepares for meetings and presentations
• Organizes information or materials for others
• Carefully reviews and checks the accuracy of information in work reports (e.g., production, sales, financial performance) provided by management, management information systems, or other individuals and groups

Thoroughness involves careful preparation, completeness of execution, careful checking of work, and follow-up with others, to ensure that work is on track. Thoroughness is often undervalued, but it is a competency possessed by most good managers and all good project managers. Reflect on your own work experience. What problems have you experienced because of lack of thoroughness? You can probably think of a number of situations where more thoroughness would have prevented problems.

Developing this competency is largely a matter of disciplining yourself to plan carefully, to check work carefully for errors, and to follow up with others to ensure that they have done what they promised to do. These behaviors are not difficult to learn, but they may be difficult to apply, especially if they conflict with your personal style. Project management is a method with procedures and systems to ensure thoroughness. If you are in charge of projects involving many activities and several people, books and courses on project management may be helpful. Time management systems may also be helpful, especially systems that help you manage your to-do lists and follow-up activities.

For the next meeting or presentation where you will play a key role, take time for careful planning. Think about what you will say or present and what materials you will want to bring. After the meeting, think about how the planning helped you. What problems were avoided? Before submitting a report or mailing a letter or memo, read it carefully and count the number of errors you discover and correct. Use a time management system (either a paper-based one or one of the personal information management software programs) with a “tickler” system that allows you to set dates for follow-up actions (e.g., call John on May 20, to see if his part of the presentation is done) and prompts you to perform the follow-up action on the date set. Ask someone else to review a memo or report and provide feedback and suggestions, before you send it out. Take a course on project management and apply the approach to your next work project.

Ask your manager or a coworker to observe you and review your work over a one-week period and let you know when your thoroughness slips. Show a coworker the behaviors for thoroughness and ask this person to suggest specific things you could do to improve your thoroughness.

Talk to someone strong in Thoroughness to find out what this person does to achieve thoroughness.

If you are coaching someone who is trying to develop the compentency, you can: Stress the importance of Thoroughness. Model Thoroughness in your own behavior. Ask the person to check his/her work carefully before submitting it. Carefully review the person’s work and provide feedback on all problems due to lack of Thoroughness. Praise the person for work that demonstrates Thoroughness. Provide opportunities for the person to learn project management.

By April 20, I will identify and carefully plan for a meeting at which I expect to play a key role. By April 1, I will talk to all of my immediate coworkers and ask them to let me know whenever they see typographical or other errors in my work. By May 8, I will complete the AMA self-study course on project management and apply the approach to planning an individual or team project.

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

The lost art of concentration: being distracted in a digital world. Article. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/14/the-lost-art-of-concentration-being-distracted-in-a-digital-world

The ETTO Principle: Efficiency-Thoroughness Trade-Off: Why Things That Go Right Sometimes Go Wrong, by Erik Hollnagel. 162 pages. CRC Press, 2018.

How to Be Organized in Spite of Yourself: Time and Space Management That Works With Your Personal Style, by Sunny Schlenger & Roberta Roesch. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, Inc., 2000

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen. 352 pages. Penguin Books, 2015.

Last but Not Least: A Guide to Proofreading Text, by Leslie Vermeer. 160 pages. Brush Education, 2020.

The Professional: Defining The New Standard Of Excellence At Work, by Subroto Bagchi. 239 pages. Portfolio, 2011.

Project Management: A Managerial Approach, by Jack R. Meredith & Samuel J. Mantel, Jr. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.

The Secret to Peak Productivity: A Simple Guide to Reaching Your Personal Best, by Tamara Myles. 224 pages. AMACOM, 2014.

The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques: How to Get More Done Without Driving Yourself Crazy, by Pamela Dodd & Doug Sundheim. Peak Performance Press, Inc., 2005.

The Art of Project Management, by Scott Berkun. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.

WORKSHOPS & COURSES - PUBLIC, ONSITE, ONLINE

Leadership Excellence. Educations Media Group (EMG). findcourses.com
https://www.findcourses.com/search/top-leadership-training?q=excellence

Sense of Urgency. 10 online courses and videos. LinkedIn Learning.
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/search?keywords=urgency

Attention to Detail Workshops. Half-day virtual. Tel. 800-639-1206.
https://attentiontodetail.com/attention-to-detail-workshops/

Improving Your Project Management Skills: The Basics for Success. Three days. American Management Association. Tel. 877 566-9441.
www.amanet.org/seminars/seminar.cfm?basesemno=6503

Time Management. Two days. American Management Association. Tel. 877 566-9441.
https://www.amanet.org/time-management/

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
See Appendix